


Misunderstandings

by acevael



Series: Princess and the Merc [1]
Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout 4
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Misunderstandings, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-27
Updated: 2016-02-27
Packaged: 2018-05-23 11:12:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,020
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6114708
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/acevael/pseuds/acevael
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sole Survivor Princess Woodly is not the first Princess MacCready ever met. A series of very unfortunate misunderstandings lead to him believing that the little girl from his childhood came back to haunt him. Princess, unaware of this, is confused, scared, and majorly pissed off when she ends up with a gun pushed to her head.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Misunderstandings

**Author's Note:**

> One of the questions people ask me the most whenever I talk about these two, is MacCready's first reaction to Princess' name. Since I didn't play Fallout 3 before playing Fallout 4, I couldn't really answer it. But now I'm ready, and this is it.
> 
> (Also, my Lone Wanderer was kind of an asshole and in my headcanon she thought it would be funny to tell Little Lamplight Princess to get what's rightfully hers and show the other kids that she has what it takes to be a boss. That's why MacCready's reaction is a bit... over the top, to say the least.)

It took several hours, half a pack of cigarettes, and several bottles of Nuka Cola until Princess finally explained every detail of her current job to the mercenary she freshly hired. Not because he was so daft. No, it was the opposite, actually. He had some very valid questions to ask with slightly puzzled expression on his face as she told her slightly unbelievable tale with the Cabot family, illustrated by a series of enthusiastic hand gestures. There was simply _so_ much to tell, and Princess was beyond excited to finally talk to another human after spending days in just the company of her trusty robot butler. **  
**

“So… you’re searching for someone,” MacCready furrowed his brows.

“Right on!”

“And instead of looking for him we’re hunting down some weirdo's probably even weirder sister who ran off with her boyfriend. The doll in the Third Rail told you he was a leader of a cult, and will most likely try to kill us once we find him.” He paused then, maybe hoping for Princess to tell him it was just a joke she liked to play on all the mercenaries she hired. When no such thing happened MacCready let out an annoyed sigh. “Darn it boss, are we at least getting good money for this?”

It took another half an hour to convince Codsworth to go home without her. Princess reassured the robot that she would keep her eye on her new follower in case he had any ulterior motives, not wander the city at night on her own, she would drink enough water, not just those “nasty sugary drinks”, and even change her underwear as often as she could.

“Please do take care, Miss Princess,” Codsworth said and just after a bit of hesitation, where Princess considered giving him a hug, no matter how hard that seemed to actually perform, the robot floated down the hotel’s hallway loudly humming to himself. Princess wasn't sure the other guests appreciated the performance, it certainly wasn't Magnolia’s soothing voice from the bar earlier. But it reminded her of the old days when she would wake to hear the same tune and immediately smell freshly brewed coffee, and it filled her with blissful nostalgia.

“Alrighty, MacCre…” Princess wanted to tell the mercenary that they were done for the night and he was free to go and crash in the room she rented for him, but before she could do it, the man grabbed her by the hair, roughly pushed her against the wall and immediately covered her lips with his dirty hands when she tried to scream. He was surprisingly strong for someone who had such a small frame, and as Princess brought up her legs to kick him where it would hurt the most as her first panicky reaction to the sudden change of his behavior, he reached for the combat rifle she left on one of the armchairs and pushed it right to her temple.

“Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you right now,” MacCready hissed, almost spitting the words in her face, his blue eyes cold with pure hatred.

“What is wrong with you?” Princess tried to shout in his face, but with his palm still covering her mouth it all came out as a series of muffled sounds. When she tried to wiggle to escape and lick his dust coated hands in an even more daring attempt, the rifle’s cold metal just pushed harder against her skin.

“Why are you even here? Did you seriously come all the way from the Capital just to laugh at me? Give me this little story of yours about this person you lost… why? Because you thought that would earn you the most sympathy points?” MacCready shook his head. It was hard to see before when they were laughing with the drinks and the stories her ridiculous adventures, but suddenly Princess could perfectly imagine him running around with those Gunner idiots. His face was completely distorted by rage, and while the hand keeping her mouth shut was shaking, the other one holding the gun was perfectly still. A true professional.

Too bad he was going ape and ready to kill her. But why? Did she do something to offend him? Princess desperately tried replaying the events of the last few hours in her mind, searching for that one thing that could have led to her being pinned to a wall by a dip stick of a mercenary. Was buying the most expensive drinks at a bar not a form of compliment anymore? Was offering cigarettes to someone the rudest gesture imaginable? She didn’t know asking questions about the bullets on his hat would get her killed. She just wanted to know the story behind them, they seemed like such an interesting choice of fashion accessory and she considered putting something similar on her scavenged sea captain’s hat to look more intimidating.

“Are you… are you actually crying?” MacCready asked when he saw the first tear drop running down her face. Instead of softening, however, his gaze became even darker if that was possible. “Not gonna work on me, Princess.”

He must have overheard Codsworth saying goodbye to her, because she didn’t remember telling him her name at all. Now _that_ was impolite, but things were happening so fast she simply didn’t have time to hold out her hand and say “hi, my name is Princess Woodly, and I'm so very glad to meet you”.

“Wasn't making my life… heck, everyone’s life, a living hell at Little Lamplight enough for you? Did someone tell you about Lucy? Is that why you’re here? For a childish revenge? You’re sick and twisted and I hate you!” MacCready lowered his head then, stayed still for a few moments, and when he looked at her again, his gaze was different. Princess discovered pity in the look he gave her. MacCready took one shaky breath, a hint of sadness mixed with the anger.

Whoever this Lucy was, whatever Little Lamplight was, thinking about them clearly brought back some painful memories for him. Princess knew the longing in his eyes very well. She wanted to tell him that she knew what it felt like to lose someone who meant the whole world, to lose something important and familiar, that she too was controlled by grief, and had to try her hardest to overcome it. The hand on her mouth and the gun pressed to her head made communications hard, but she hoped that her eyes would be able to tell him enough. She wasn't just crying because she was scared, she also felt sorry for the man who obviously has been hurt in ways she couldn't imagine. Even if he was ready to murder her in cold blood for crimes she didn’t commit.

MacCready held Princess’ gaze for a few moments, looking for answers in the panicked looks she gave him, then sighed as he relaxed his shoulders and took away both the hand from her mouth and the gun from her head. The sudden loss of support combined with her legs violently shaking made Princess slump to the floor, and her hat falling off her head. It was a very unfortunate landing, a sharp pain in her ankle told her that. Princess found herself being unable to look at MacCready through the tears that were now also the signs of her relief on top of the sadness and fear.

“I can’t do this. I'm not giving you the satisfaction,” was all MacCready said before he dropped her combat rifle on the floor and stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him. The sound made everything in the room shake, including Princess herself. She wasn't sure she would be able to move from the dusty old rug without immediately collapsing or throwing up, so instead of trying, she just buried her face in her palms and cried until the sky turned light outside.

* * *

 

She found MacCready on a bench with his hat on his lap, a hand in one of the many pockets of his duster, the other holding a half-burned cigarette. Judged by the empty box thrown next to him it wasn't the first one.

“Hey,” Princess said quietly and slowly slid next to him. She spotted at least three guards patrolling the streets, but she wasn't sure any of them would help if MacCready decided to stab her on the spot, so she decided to be careful with him. “I'm not sure who…”

“I know, all right?” MacCready growled, keeping his eyes on his shoes. “I met your robot on the way out last night. He told me everything. About your husband, the missing kid, and the vault.”

Princess slowly nodded. That wasn't how she was planning on sharing the story at all.

“200 years?” MacCready finally turned to her. He seemed exhausted. Most likely didn’t sleep all night. Princess was unable to do so either. She tried not to think about what her face must have looked like, and for the first time in months she was thankful for the lack of clean mirrors in this strange new world.

“Yep. 210 actually. Or so I'm told.”

“Yeesh, that’s heck of a long time.”

“I missed the new season of my favourite soap opera. Oh, and the destruction of the world or something.” Princess let out a nervous laugh. That earned her a faint smile from MacCready.

“Look, I'm sorry, okay? Your name is just… there was someone… she was this girl where I grew up... and I wasn't thinking.”

“If you want to talk about it…” Princess moved a bit closer and was ready to place a reassuring hand on MacCready’s shoulder but decided against it in the last moment. It was a bit hard to forget how the gun felt like pressed to her head merely a few hours ago.

“I don’t think so, boss.”

Princess was expecting that answer. Whatever was the story with Lucy, Little Lamplight, and that other Princess whose memory awoken a murderous rage in MacCready, it was clearly too personal to share with a complete stranger. As curious as she was, because good pieces of gossip was hard to come by in the Commonwealth, she respected MacCready’s decision.

They sat on the bench, without saying a word, as the town slowly woke up around them. The sounds of distant chatter, and music coming from at least three different radios filled the streets. Some of the citizens greeted MacCready, a few of them even acknowledged Princess. Daisy, that friendly ghoul, whose long overdue book Princes was still carrying around, told them they both looked like shit before heading to her store to open it for the day.

“You hungry, MacCready?” Princess asked as she caught the scent of coffee coming from somewhere, and her stomach immediately demanded attention with a loud growl.

“Starving like a super mutant on tato diet.” MacCready groaned.

“Are there any places around here that are not totally lame?”

MacCready’s eyes brightened up in a second as he jumped off from the bench and threw his cigarette away. He suddenly looked so much younger. Almost like a child. He even bounced a little before he started to speak.

“Oh man, you have to try the noodles in Diamond City! And the steak! You’ll love the Bobrov brothers’ steak!”

Princess laughed as she followed him. She resisted the urge to keep her combat rifle ready to fire in case MacCready tried anything funny. The sun was high up in the sky, the storm from the previous day no more than a bad memory. The mercenary gave her a wide smile as he was leading her towards the gates of Goodneighbor, the kind eyes and ecstatic grin immediately replacing the images of his hateful stare in Princess’ mind. The mild ache in her temple and legs was slowly fading. Even her raggedy hat was back on her head. It was a brand new day, and with the promise of strange friendships and delicious food, off to a great start. There was no need to ruin it.

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and comments are always loved and deeply appreciated! <3


End file.
